Benghazi protesters demand justice be restored

BENGHAZI, Libya, March 2 (Reuters) - Hundreds of
Libyans protested outside the main courthouse in Benghazi on
Friday, demanding that a militia which had occupied the building
during the revolution leave and allow judges to return to work.

The militia, one of dozens set up during the 2011 uprising
that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, has been using the courthouse as
its headquarters and wants it to remain a symbol of the revolt
that began in the eastern coastal city.

Libyans, tired of lawlessness and keen to see the justice
system back up and running, have been demanding in vain that
militias lay down their arms and the rule of law be restored.

"We are with the judiciary and with the court. We want the
court back and we don't want the judiciary to be marginalised,"
said Ghalia Bouzaakouk, one of the protesters.

Since Gaddafi's overthrow last year, the National
Transitional Council has struggled to impose its authority over
the country. The militias set up to fight Gaddafi's forces have
largely refused to disarm and join a national security force and
the proper rule of law has yet to be established.

Former rebels hold thousands of detainees and the NTC has
struggled to have them transferred to state custody from where
they could be put on trial.

A group of about a dozen men armed with knives, who
protesters believe were hired by the militia, tried to disperse
the crowd that gathered in the square outside the courthouse, a
focal point of protests during the revolution.

"Attacks against protesters are a crime in every sense of
the word. These are definitely hired thugs," said Saad
al-Mgasbi, an employee in the attorney general's office.

"What does it mean for them to occupy the court? From my
perspective it is standing in the way of the revolution."
(Reporting by Mohammed al-Tommy; Writing by Lin Noueihed; By
Ben Harding)